virtues of african-americans that were brought to the americas and people under harsh circumstances were able to survive and thrive. it goes into what we call the greatest story that is yet to be told, a story of people who came to the americas unvoluntarily and have done exceedingly well in this country. we still have a long way to go, but thank god we have come as far as we have. . this year we're celebrating the civil rights in america. and we'd like to start by talking about the civil rights act of 1964. however, before you can really understand completely the civil rights act of 1964, it's important to get some sense of what the times were like in 1964. to get some understanding of

what it was like to live in the united states of america in 1964. and this is not being done to shame anyone, it's not being done to cause persons to have some sort of guilty reflections. this is being done so as to help us commemorate some things and celebrate some others. it's important to understand the times that we lived in. the lived -- i lived during these times. and i'd like to start with april 12, 1963, and then i'd like to walk us up through some events that will bring us to the signing of the civil rights act of 1964. it was april 12, 1963, that dr. king was arrested in birmingham, alabama. he was there to work with others, to integrate a city

that was deeply segregated. and in so doing he was informed by some members of the clergy and others that he was taking inappropriate action, he was acting too soon, that the time was not ripe for what he was doing in birmingham, alabama. as a result of being there and protesting, dr. king was arrested. he was taken to jail, stayed in jail for nine days. and while in jail he wrote his famous letter from the birmingham jail in response to a statement that was published by some other members of the clergy of the and if you have not read the letter from the birmingham jail, i beg that you read it, because it will help you better understand the times and understand why dr. king had to do what he was doing. the letter from the birmingham jail is one of the greatest

pieces of american literature that i have been exposed to. and i beg you to please take the opportunity to read it. let's move forward to june 11, 1963. this is when governor george walz stood in the door -- wallace stood in the door of the university of alabama to block the entry of vivian malone and james hood. these were two students who were enrolling. and in so doing he caused the president at that time, president kennedy, to federalize the alabama national guard so that these two students could make their way into the university of alabama. these were the times that i lived in. these were events that occurred leading up to the signing of the voting rights act of 1965, also the public accommodations

act of 1964. ne 21, 1964, three civil rights workers were in mississippi. they lost their lives in mississippi registering people to vote. when they died it caused the country to grieve, understanding that three people who but only tried to register people to vote had lost their lives at the hands of the k.k.k. these were the times that i lived in. august 28, 1963, dr. king called for a march on washington and that march took place. that march was one of the greatest events in the history of the civil rights movement. 200,000 to 300,000 people

assembled. and this is when dr. king gave his famous "i have a dream" speech. they also had a list of demands . list of demands that included a number eight on a list of 10. number eight was a minimum wage of $2 an hour. that minimum wage of $2 an hour adjusted for inflation would be more than $13 an hour today. the minimum wage was a part of the reason why we had the march on washington. and i'm so proud that dr. king stood his ground so as to help us develop that minimum wage that he wanted to have at a -- as a living wage and there is before the house now h.r. 1010, a bill that would produce a living wage because it indexes

the minimum wage to the consumer price index. it would move the minimum wage $10.10 an an hour to hour in increments. not all at once. it would also help persons who are tip workers, who are making currently $2.13 an hour. it would raise their wages and would also continue to index their wages so that they would find themselves being able to hopefully live above the poverty line while working full-time. in this, the richest country in the world, a country where one out of every 60 persons is a millionaire, and i don't begrudge anyone who's a millionaire, a country where in one of every 11 households is worth $1 million, and i absolute those who are -- salute those who are worth $1 million. but in this country, where we have so much wealth, i don't believe we ought to have people

who work full time and live below the poverty line. and find that employers are subsidized so that these workers can be paid a wage that is at or near a poverty level and receive other subsidies from the government to help them make it in america. so i am honored that dr. king pushed for a wage of $2 an hour at that time, which would be more than $13 an hour today. moving forward to september 15 of 1963. a tragic occurrence at the 16th street baptist church. this is when four babies, i say they were babies, addie watts 14, cynthia was -- was 14, cynthia was 14, another was 14 and denise was 11. they all lost their lives in church, in church, four babies,

four young girls. these were the times that i lived in. these were the times that preceded the signing of the voting rights act of 1964 and 1965. vember 22, 1963, a president of the united states of america decided to come to texas and while in texas the president was assassinated. the honorable john f. kennedy lost his life in my home state. i was born in louisiana but texas is my home state at this time. and when he lost his life, the country went into mourning. it was a sad day for this country, to have a president

assassinated. and this country found that it was necessary to move forward, however. and another person became president and that of course was the honorable lyndon johnson who was from the state of texas. and it was lyndon johnson who on july 2, 1964, signed the civil rights act. now, this civil rights act of 1964 is one that brought great benefits to persons of my generation. because it dealt with public accommodations and it integrated or desegregated blic accommodations, hotels, restaurants, places that we frequent now and we take for granted the opportunity to go into these places. in my lifetime we could not enter the front door of places

that we now take for granted that these things have always been this way, many do, not all, but those of us who are of my il, we remember what it was like -- ilk, we remember what it was like. and i can remember when we would travel across country, mr. speaker. we knew that there were certain places that we could stop and we knew that there were certain places that we dare not stop under any circumstances at all. and we would make sure that we had enough fuel to make it from one stop to the next and we knew that there were certain places that we could eat and there were places where we would have to go to the back door. and we would, when we arrived at these places, always courteous and kind to the people who greeted us, and a good many of them were courteous and kind to us, but

there were many who were not. i remember once when we were traveling across the country and we wanted some water and we stopped at a service station and the operator, i don't know that the person was the owner, so i shall use the term operator, said, yes, you may have water, but you'll have to drink it out of an oil can. you can take that can and you can clean it up at best you can -- as best you can and you can drink your water from that can. these were the times that i lived in. the times that the 1964 civil rights act, public accommodations act addressed. i can remember the colored water fountains, whenever we went out some place near my home, if we wanted water we had to drink from a collar water fountain -- colored water fountain. that colored water fountain was usually not nearly as clean as

the white water fountain. i can remember having to sit in the back of the bus. i traveled from texas to california and i remember sitting in the back of the bus and when i got to some place near california, they allowed me to sit near the front of the bus. it was the first time in my life that i'd actually had an opportunity to sit near the front of the bus. i remember having to sit in the balcony of the movie. we were not allowed, in my lifetime, to sit at the first level. we always were required to go into the balcony of the movie. back of the bus, balcony of the movie, and then arrested and placed in the bottom of the jail. this is the era that i grew up in that preceded the signing of the public accommodations act, the voting rights acts of 1964

-- act of 1964. mr. speaker, i'm sure you can understand that i have great appreciation for the voting rights act. the voting rights act means more to me than a simple document with words on it. this document may have been written in ink, but it was goodman the blood of and cheney, signed in the blood of those babies who lost their lives at the 16th street baptist church, written in ink, signed in blood, and it means something to people of my generation. so i'm proud tonight and i'm honored that the leadership has allowed us to have this time to talk about the civil rights, the civil rights act in this country. the means by which we have integrated ourselves. and i'm proud that my country has come a long way.

make no mistake about it, we have come a very long way in this country. and if anybody says we haven't come a long way, i would challenge them. i would challenge them. ecause i lived through segregation. i know what segregation looked like. saw it on signs that said "colored" and "white." i know what it smells like. i went to the back door and to bathrooms that were not clean. i know what it felt like. because i was pushed and shoved and told where to go and what to do. these were the times that i lived in. but thank god we've come a long way and we no longer live in the times that preceded the signing of the voting rights act of 1964. mr. speaker, i'm honored that i

have another member here who is going to say a few words about civil rights and i then have another member who has something special that he will call to our attention and i will return and i'm going to say a little bit tonight about the voting rights act of 1965. but before i do this, i'd like to share some time with another member from the great state of texas, from a district that includes the city of el paso, texas's 16th congressional district, the honorable mr. o'rourke. i yield to him such time as i may consume. . -- mr. o'rourke: it's a great honor to join my colleague from the state of texas in his special order hour today to recognize our history in this country when it comes to achieving civil rightsance

perseverance in the face of adversity. and some of our shameful past that's been turned through the very hard work they are -- hard work, the blood, the sweat referenced to my colleague, into victory, ricketries that are not yet complete, victories we are still working on, but victories nonetheless. i thought it might be appropriate to share a little bit about the area i represent, el paso, texas, and its struggle to achieve civil rights, human rights and equality for all men under the law. i'll begin with one of my favorite stories about el paso. the story of 1949 bowie bears high school baseball team. that was team that was made up of members who lived in the segundo barrio, all mexican

american members, extreme poverty, played baseball with balls made of scrap piece of clothe, gloves stitched together in their own home and won the city championship, won the regional championship and as they traveled in 1949 on those country highways to our capital in austin, texas, traveled on a bus, they were denied the ability to stay at motels. nomex cans or dogs allowed. they were unable to eat in restaurant, they had to eat in the kitchens or eat outside on the bus. and the night before the championship game, in austin, texas, against an austin, texas, high school team they slept under the bleachers in the field that they were going to play on instead of being able to stay in a hotel or motel in that city and went on to win the first high school state baseball championship in texas. not too much longer after that, in 1955, el paso became the

first city in the state of texas to integrate its public schools. and as my colleague from texas has pointed out, up until that point, there were separate schools for black children, there were separate cools for white children and not too long before that, separate schools for mexican american children. so 1955, the school board in el paso, texas, made a very important decision to integrate schools, there, the first in texas, one of the first in the former confederacy. in 196 , they elected the first mexican american mayor of a major u.s. city. and then on june 7, 1962, the el paso city council, under the leadership of alderman bert williams, passed the first city ordinance of any major city in the former confederacy outlawing segregation in hotels, motels, restaurants and theaters. these places of public

accommodation that my colleague had so eloquently described that were segregated and in many cases barred to african-americans and in some cases in el paso in earlier years to mexican americans. president kennedy in a speech that following year in 1963 a speech titled the special message to congress on civil rights and job opportunities, recognized this achievement in texas in el paso, where we were the first community in the former confederacy to desegregate those places of public accommodation. and lastly, mr. speaker, i would draw our attention to the 1966 texas western miners, a college basketball team that fielded the first all-black starting five to compete for a national title game. and those five young men not only won the national championship against some of the longest of odds, versus

kentucky, but in doing so, they effectively ended segregation in intercollegiate athletics and did a lot to further end discrimination more brdly in the united states. and so i would just join with my colleague and associate myself with his comments about the voting rights act and the immediate to persevere in the face of adversity, to recognize those triumphs that we have achieve sod far but not to claim victory until we are assured that everyone is treated equally under the law. everyone has access to the ballot box. and that we truly are a country that treats everyone equally under the constitution. so i hope that as a representative of el paso, texas, a community that has such a proud history in leading in texas, leading in the former confederacy, leading in the u.s. on important civil rights,

human rights and equality issues, that i will be able to join you, mr. green, in this fight, and join this congress in doing the right thing. with that, i yield back. mr. green: i thank you for your excellent recitation and you have already become a part of this congress, of course, but also of the fight. you really hit the ground running. i want to salute you and let your constituents know that they can be proud of what you have accomplished in a very short time in the congress of the united states of america. thank you for spending time -- time with us this evening. thank you. i'd like to know how much time i have left, i'd like to yield some time to mr. grayson at the end of my time and i don't know if it's appropriate for you to give a five-minute warning or not -- if you can just tell me how much time i have left, i'll be able to work with that. the speaker pro tempore: 35 minutes. mr. green: very good. i assure you mr. grayson, we will have time for you. i'd like to now move forward to

1965. assembled sons who at a church near the edmund pettus bridge. if you have not seen the edmund pettus bridge, i would beg that you take an opportunity to see the bridge. remember now, we are talking about civil rights in the united states of america, we've talked about the voting rights act of 1964 b, and moving forward to 1965, i mentioned persons assembled at a church, i've mentioned the edmund pettus bridge. these persons assembled at this church because they were going to march from selma to montgomery. a peaceful march. when they approached the edmund pettus bridge they knew that on the other side of that bridge were men with clubs, some on

horses, and they knew that their faith was -- their fate was uncertain but they marched on. and when they approached these men, i can remember mr. john lewis, the honorable john lewis, member of congress from georgia, he tells the story and he says that they were beating them and he thought that he was going to die. they were beating -- they were beaten all the way back to the church where they started. this was in 1965. a year after the 1964 voting rights act was signed. well, dr. king came to montgomery, alabama, to selma, alabama, and dr. king proceeded with the march. this was after the time that we call bloody sunday. dr. king came and they marched from selma to montgomery. but now, this is where the

story gets interesting. because there is a person that i have labeled the greatest unsung hero of the civil rights movement. barring none, the greatest unsung hero of the civil rights movement. a person who is known to very few people, a person who made it possible for dr. king and the marchers to move from selma to montgomery without having to onfront the con stab lair that engaged in a brutal act previously and may have done a similar thing. this man, the greatest unsung hero of the civil rights movement was a republican. this man was not of african ancestry. he was an anglo.

this man was appointed to a federal judgeship by president eisenhower. this man signed the order for them to march from selma to montgomery. you might say, well, signing an order is no big deal. it was then. remember the times. it was a big deal to sign a -- that order. in fact for more than a decade he had to be protected by u.s. arshals. frank m. johnson the honorable frank m. johnson, district court judge, but the story of rank m. johnson doesn't really start with the edmund fete pettus bridge, i starts with rosa parks.

when the she took that seat and ignited the spark that starred the civil rights movement she went to jail that night. there's a white side to black history. her bail was posted by ms. virginia dewer and her husband, a white woman posted the bail to get rosa parks out of jail. there's a white side to black history. but let's get back to frank m. johnson. they decided they would not ride the bus. for over a year they provided alternative transportation and boycotted. in so doing, in boycotting, they brought this to the attention of not only the united states but of the world. but here's the other side. the boycott was effective but it was an order from frank m.

johnson as a part of a three-judge panel concluding that that segregation was unconstitutional based upon brown vs. the board of education which had been decided about a year earlier. frank m. johnson signed the order along with two other judges. frank m. johnson went on to sign orders integrating schools, voting rights, his history is replete with orders that he signed to change the face of the south. paraphrasing dr. king, frank m. johnson gave meaning to the word justice. a white, republican federal judge. i mention these things tonight

because i want people to know that black history is american history. and that it includes people of all hues and genders and persuasions and it is a history that quite frankly we cannot forget, there are some aspects of it that we are not proud of, but it's a history that is ours and we can never, ever ignore our history. just as we cannot ignore what happened at pearl harbor, just as we cannot ignore what happened on 9/11, we cannot ignore many of the thing this is a happened in the history of african-americans. with frank m. johnson having athroid marchers to move rward by signing this order, later on, the same president, lyndon johnson, signed the

voting rights act of 1965. i am probably in congress because of the voting rights act of 1965. because it provided a means by which districts could be drawn with consideration given to population as opposed to geography. that voting rights act, section 5, is what allowed a good many people who are right here in this congress today to be here. the voting rights act of 1965 and section 5 of it and as you know, section 5 has been made impotent by the evisceration of section 4. section 4 was declared unconstitutional. one of the things i have learned in my years on the planet is that while i don't always agree with the judiciary, i do respect the judiciary.

i didn't agree with the decision to declare section 4 unconstitutional. but i respect the opinion and as a result i will do what i can to correct it here in the halls of congress. i think that we have a great opportunity here to do something to strengthen the voting rights about, the same voting rights act that mr. john lewis marched to bring into being, that people lost their lives to bring into being. that same voting rights act can be strengthened and be made useful and viable for a good many people. so i will conclude with this, but i do want one more evidence of how much time i have left. can you give me one more count on the time? and i will come to my conclusion. the speaker pro tempore: 27 minutes. mr. green: 27 minutes.

mr. grayson, i assure you you'll have ample time. i want to conclude with this. i believe that this is a great country, notwithstanding all that i've explained about black history, this is a great country. and i love my country. i believe that this is a country that has allowed me privileges and opportunities that i probably could not have enjoyed if another place. -- in another place. so let me share this with you. i was not born into riches, obviously, based upon the tories that i've told. from very poor parents. my father could neither read nor write. and i remember going to work have no ather one day, idea of why i was there. my father was a mechanic's helper, he was not a mechanic. he was a helper.

he was the person who would clean up the wet spot on the floor. elves the person who would fetch the tools -- he was the person who would fetch the tools and do the things that were required that many people would not do. and i heard them address my father by a name that i was not familiar with. they called him secretary. and as any child would, i suppose, i made an inquiry. why do they call you secretary? and he explained to me that they were making fun of him, that they were aware that he could not read, that he could not write. and they were making fun of him. and i said, well, why would you do this? why would you let them make fun of you like this? why would you let them do this

to you? it hurt as a young child to see your father being made fun of because he could not read and he could not write. and by the way, it was not his choice, it wasn't his choice to be a person who could not read or write. but my father's answer is really what this story is all about. when i said to him, why would you let them do this to you? nd he said to me, after having told me many more things, but i aid to me, i do it and accept it because i want you to be able to read and write. nd isn't it wonderful that the son of a secretary can now stand in the well of the house of representatives in the united states of america and the and write laws for

united states of america? i thank you for the time, mr. speaker, i'm grateful to all who made it possible for us to have this hour and i believe that ours is the best country in the world. i believe that it really doesn't get much better than the united states of america. there are things we need to do, things we need to correct. but on a bad day it's good to live in the u.s. and on a bad day when your dog that you reared from a pup, on a bad day when your spouse wants to dessert you, have it happen in the united states of america. god bless you and i'd like to ield to mr. grayson.

mr. grayson: mr. speaker, today is the sad anniversary, 0 years ago today -- 20 years ago the brilliant comedian bill hicks died of cancer at the age of 32. hicks' comedy has been an inspiration to me and millions of others. he's been voted the fourth greatest standup comedian of all time. and if hicks were alive to hear that, he would complain biterly about losing out to gandhi, einstein and stalin. in honor of bill hicks, i'd like to try to yield this platform to him. this is how bill hicks ended his own performances. he would say to the audience, you've been fantastic, i hope enjoyed the show.

there's a point to my act -- is there a point to my act? let's find a point. i would say there's a point to my act and i have to. the point is this. for the world is a ride like an amusement park. and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are. and the ride goes up and down and it goes round and round. it has thrills and chills and it's very brightly colored and it's very loud and it's fun for a while. some people have been on the ride for a long time and they begin to question, is it real or is it a ride? and other people, they remember and they come back to us and they say, hey, don't worry, don't be afraid ever. because it's just a ride. and we kill those people.

we kill those people. we tell them, shut him up. we have a lot invested in this ride. shut him up. look at the furows of worry, look at my big bank account and my family. this has to be real, this can't just be a ride. but it's just a ride. and we always kill those good guys who try to tell us that it's just a ride. you have ever noticed that? and we let the demons run amok. but it doesn't matter because it's just a ride and we can change it any time we want. it's only a choice, no effort, no worry, no job, no savings, and money, it's just a ride. it's a choice right now between fear and love. the eyes of fear want to you put bigger locks on your doors and buy guns and close yourself off.

the eyes of love instead see all of us as one. here's what we can do to change the world right now into a better ride. take all the money that we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it on feeding and clothing and educating the poor of this world, which we can do many times over. not just one human being, but all of us, no one excluded. and that we can explore space together, both inner and outer forever in peace. thank you very much, you've been great. i hope you enjoyed it. you're fantastic. thank you very much. bill hicks wrote his own eulogy and that was how he ended his act. this is what he said in his own final words, in his own eulogy. i left here in love, in laughter, and in truth. wherever truth and love and laughter abide, i am there in spirit.

rest in peace, bill hicks, i yield my time. the speaker pro tempore: does the gentleman from texas yield back? mr. green: i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: the chair will recognize a motion to adjourn. mr. grayson: motion to adjourn. the speaker pro tempore: the question is on the motion to adjourn. those in favor say aye. those opposed, no. the ayes have it. the motion is adopted. accordingly the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for morning hour

>> congress continues to find ways to raise the minimum wage. democrats in particular today calling for a discharge petition to be brought forth to

we're joined by aaron watson. -- werk wasson. >> they rolled out a discharge petition, it would require 2220 signatures to force them to bring a vote to the floor. democrats figured they'd be able to get almost all of their 199 members but to succeed they'll need to convince publicans, 19 republicans or so, to join and that's probably a pretty tall order. discharge petitions rarely succeed. representative bishop of new york who filed the discharge petition had to go back to 1938 to cite the fair labor standards act which was brought to the floor under this procedure. >> as we talk wednesday

afternoon, there are 105, 107 members, you said 218. is there a time limit by which they have to have the 218 signed? >> no, there's no limit. it can sit there the rest of this congress and they can try to bring pressure. there's a list of six members who have advocated a minimum wage increase in 2006 before the last term who would sign the -- who signed a later -- a letter stating no full-time worker should be living in poverty. mr. bishop said he'd try get them first. even if you believe in the underlying bill, it's a challenge to leadership and for ample he wants to get fred upton, chairman of the energy and commerce committee, it would be unlikely that someone who benefits from being able to control a powerful committee would ever sign a discharge petition.

>> your headline in "the hill" is reflective of the tone, perhaps, democrats seek to force society on the minimum wage. does that mean there are no republicans who indicated any support for it? >> there are republicans that indicated support but they in their press conference, they predict if there was a vote it would pass just because, you know, this polls very well. 71% in the polls they were citing support raising the minimum wage. there was a gallup poll in november. if the bill came to the floor there just would be a lot of public pressure to pass this and score a big win for democrats ahead of the election. if it doesn't go through, i think that they're going to to make it a campaign

issue. harry reid planned to delay working on this until march. ? there had been talked about bring -- talk about bringing it quickly. he was asked about this, he blamed it on g.o.p. obstructionism on issues like unemployment insurance, benefits extension and judicial nomination, there's also a sense that they want to try to see if they can find a way to get their entire caucus onboard already, senator mark pryor, a vulnerable arkansas senator, does not support a $10.10 minimum wage. others have yet to publicly commit. there's some sense they want to have a unified front on that. also when i talked to aids last week, it filled up a a -- up a

public campaign a bit and try to build more pressure. when we do see an april vote on this, that won't be the last this year, if it doesn't pass, trile try -- they'll try to bring a vote to force it to pass or highlight the campaign issue. >> lastly, democrats active on twitter about this, a number of them tweeting about signing a discharge petition including the whip, steny hoyer, saying he's proud to sign the discharge petition in terms of white house support on their efforts, what are you hearing? >> this is something the white house has called for. they initially in the state of the union address in 2013, they -- president obama called for 9 wage but now he's on board with the $10.10 and continue to press for it in appearances they highlighted the fact that

the gap is going to be unilaterally raise all their workers up to that level. i think the white house is really looking to make this an issue and it's part of, you know, a mid term campaign coordination as well. they want to move things away from a discussion of the obamacare website rollout and some different statistics that have come out of obamacare and move it toward the minimum wage which polls very, very well. wasson an follow erik n twitter at elwasson. >> coming up, governor jan veto a expected to would allow companies

to refuse to serve openly gay people due to their religious beliefs. the look ahead to election. standing inates the way of democrats retaking the house. how do you like your chances right now eight months away from election 2014? it is an uphill fight in the house. it's an achievable but uphill fight. are not easy to win. these are seats in swing districts. we are pulling out all the stops. mis-of us are under any interpretation that this is an

easy thing to do. >> wore going live to phoenix for a statement from arizona governor january brewer with just started speaking a moment ago. >> house ways and means chairman -- >> the necessary time to make the right decision. i oke with my attorneys, have asked questions and i have listened. i protected religious freedoms when there's a specific and present concern that exists in our state. and i have the records to prove it. -- earlier this year, i made my priorities clear. among them, passing a responsible budget that continues arizona's economic comeback. from c.e.o.'s to entrepreneurs to business surveys, arizona ranks as one of the best states

to grow or start a business. additionally, our immediate challenge is fixing a broken child protection system. instead, this is the first policy bill to cross my desk. senate bill 1062 does not address a specific or present concern -- or pressing concern related to religious liberty in arizona. i have not heard one example in arizona where a business owner's religious liberty has been violated. the bill is broadly warred and could result in unintended and negative consequences. after weighing all the arguments, i have vetoed senate bill 1062 moments ago. to the supporters of this legislation, i want you to know that i understand that long held norms about marriage and family are being challenged as never before. our society is undergoing many dramatic changes. however, i sincerely believe

that senate bill 1062 has the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve. it could affect arizona in ways we cannot even imagine and no one would want. religious liberty is a core american and arizona value. so is nondiscrimination. going forward, let's turn the ugliness of the debate over senate bill 1062 into a renewed search for greater respect and understanding among all arizonans and americans. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> arizona governor january brewer at about 7:45 eastern

announcing she has vetoed arizona senate bill 1062, that's the bill to would have allowed arizona businesses to discrimination based on the business owner's religious beliefs. we are going to open up our phone lines and get your thoughts on what you heard from governor brewer, the debate over the legislation. here are the numbers to call. if you are a republican, 202-585-3885. for democrats, 202-585-3886. independents and all others, 202-5858-3887. you can also join us on witter, we're using hash tag # c-spanchat. governor brewer vetoing senate bill 1062. . tweet from aaron blake "the daily beast" tweeted this.

>> major league baseball also issued a statement regarding the legislation earlier today. we'll try to bring you that as well. a look at the arizona republic from earlier today and they have a headline here, all eyes on the governor as debate rages on. we expect this to be updated shortly but they write in here, of all the questions senate bill 1062 has arizonans asking, one of the most difficult, at the center of the bill's language, how do we judge the sincerity of another's heart. some say the bill defends real jus freedoms, others say it protects discrimination. it would provide a legal defense for individuals and businesses facing discrimination lawsuits if they can prove somehow they acted on a sincerely held religious

belief. let's go to canton, ohio, on our republican line, this is crissy. make sure you mute your television, go ahead with your comment. caller: i want toddle call about the bill and just state that think arizona has a right to push this kind of a bill and that they can't force private be open to ers to lgbt lifestyle and servicing that if that's against their religious beliefs. you can't force a private business owner to do it so the bill protects them from excessive or heavy lawsuits and the governor didn't protect these private business owners.

host: where do you think the line is in terms of discrimination, if you discriminate based on religious beliefs on sexuality? caller: i guess the line would be drawn -- i don't want to talk -- i don't think on the religious end, but i think more on the private sector vs. public sector. so you couldn't have something like this happening at wal-mart or publicly traded companies but if you're a mom and pop shop and you're in a small town and somebody shows up at your door and want you to make, like the wedding cake down there in arizona, where the guy didn't want to do the wedding cake. if you're a private business owner, you shouldn't be legally held to service somebody if you're against their lifestyle. you shouldn't have to succumb to that. and there's plenty of businesses where they could go to get their services.

or people take up on making businesses that will make signs that say, we serve lgbt or something like that. they would open up more businesses to be honest but you can't force a private business owner to do something that they're against. host: rockford, illinois, this is tim on our democrat's line. caller: hi. would say to veto that bill is pouring rights to religion out the window. host: what do you mean? caller: the bill is for private individuals to have their own -- that have their own business to serve whatever customer they want to serve. i think that's the law anyway. universal law. they should be able to do that. nobody should be against that. not like telling somebody else how to run their own business because you're a consumer. host: what about the issue of discriminating on the basis of race. are you opening the door to

allow that? based on religious views? >> no. because i think that's a person's thing, how your skin is is how you're born. how you choose to conduct yourself, that's something you choose. host: from florida. >> i want to -- caller: i want to bring up a point, the people that are discriminating and oppressing others are always going to cry that they are being oppressed and discriminated against when ople seek to end the discrimination and oppression that they are performing. did that make sense to you? host: appreciate you chiming in with your thoughts. here are the thoughts of senator john mccain, he tweeted this

host: now to carrollton, georgia. sheila on our democrats' line. caller: hello. from what i understand of the gay -- what i understand, the gays were not -- there was no wording in that bill, it was just a blank slate to that anybody could discriminate against anybody, your eyes are blue, i don't like blue, religious reasons, just absolutely ridiculous. i don't really like jan brewer but in this past year, she's done two correct things, she vetoed this bill and she accepted the money for medicaid. to expand medicaid. she is looking out for citizens. soy appreciate that. the cake thing, the bakery

thing, back in the 1980's, my husband and i owned a bakery. there was a person who came into our bakery, he was k.k.k., we served him, we smiled, we talked to him, his money was , st as good as anybody else's ut you know, -- we didn't -- host: how tough a decision -- was that hard a hard decision to make? did you weigh not serving him because of his membership or belief? caller: we just made a joke of it when he -- we seen him pull up in his big truck in the parking lot, my husband was always -- would always say, here comes the head sheet. and you know -- host: but his check wiz good, his money was good, you decided to go with the business and not worry about his beliefs vs. your beliefs. caller: yeah, we totally -- i

totally would not discriminate against anyone. host: all right, sheila, thanks for your comments. here's another tweet. host: let's get one more call a republican view, bob who is in iowa. bob, go ahead, hello. hello, bob in iowa, you there? caller: yes, sir, i am. host: you get the last word. what do you think about governor brewer's decision? caller: i think it's probably going to come back to bite her. the thing about this is, people say don't discriminate but in our individual lives, every day, we discriminate against something. now we're talking about a religious subject here that comes straight from the bible and if you are a christian and you are a believer, god doesn't leave any wiggle room. to be nice and to be -- god

says plain and simple, this is not acceptable. fine. if you -- you know, if this is something that has to be done, don't force it on me. don't force it on my state, don't force it on my children. just do what you'rejust do whato do. don't say you are being discriminated against because i don't believe that. host: ok, bob. appreciate all your comments. they continue as well tomorrow morning on washington journal at 7:00 eastern. hereore tweak here -- week -- tweet here, this one from mary -- more tomorrow morning here on c-span on washington journal. >> coming up tonight on c-span, house means chairman dave camp introduces his tax reform proposal. after that, president